Government & Taxes Are NOT the Answer

When I started reading non-profit and philanthropy books and newsletters my intention was to familiarize myself with trends and topics specific to the industry that I wasn't well versed in.

Instead, I keep finding myself appalled by the opinions and assertions of people who apparently have done little to immerse themselves in the realms of history or finance.

Advocates get up in arms every time Washington looks at budget cuts, yet non-profits allow themselves to remain dependent on government funding to keep their programs running.

Interest groups protest when the government seeks out private business to help keep public resources like State Parks open, but fail to provide realistic alternative options. (More taxes are NOT a viable answer.)

Books about how to do the most good as a non-profit blatantly announce that it is impossible to do well without lobbying the government and advocating nationally or internationally for one's issue. Yet any basic history of charity will quickly prove the opposite is true - the most efficient, effective and quick- to- respond efforts have always been done without the government.

Rather than ranting about how frustrating it is to see people blindly buying whatever line government and media sell, I would like to make a simple request - be skeptical. Truth can stand up to skepticism. In fact, it usually benefits from it, since facing questioning forces people to be clearer and more specific about their facts and makes them more prepared for the next time someone questions them. Lies, on the other hand, will fall apart or ensnare the teller.

Remember: as many far wiser than I have pointed out, we are people not "sheeple".  God gave us brains so that we can use them - not to mindlessly soak in the latest trends or majority polls.

And that ends today's PSA... Thank you for listening.

Do you notice bias towards government dependency in the way news is reported, or is it so common it just seems normal to you?